Systems, methods, and mobile client devices for supervising industrial vehicles

ABSTRACT

The embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for presenting information from a management server on a mobile client device to facilitate the management of industrial vehicles. Embodiments of the system can include a plurality of industrial vehicles communicatively coupled to the management server, and a mobile client device communicatively coupled to the management server. The mobile client device can include a display, a wireless communication circuit, and one or more client processors. Encoded objects, vehicular objects, or combinations thereof can be presented upon the display of the mobile client device to present information from the management server.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/488,660 filed Sep. 17, 2014, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/937,112 filed Feb. 7, 2014.

This application is related to application Ser. No. 14/488,654, filedSep. 17, 2014, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SUPERVISING INDUSTRIALVEHICLES VIA ENCODED VEHICULAR OBJECTS SHOWN ON A MOBILE CLIENT DEVICE,”Attorney Docket No. CRNZ 0048 PA1/40165.972 and application Ser. No.14/488,659 filed Sep. 17, 2014, entitled “SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND MOBILECLIENT DEVICES FOR SUPERVISING INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES,” Attorney Docket No.CRNZ 0048 PA2/40165.1048.

BACKGROUND

The present specification generally relates to systems and methods forshowing information from a management server on a mobile client deviceand, more specifically, to systems and methods for showing informationfrom a management server on a mobile client device to facilitate themanagement of industrial vehicles.

In order to move items about an industrial facility, workers oftenutilize industrial vehicles, including for example, forklift trucks,hand and motor driven pallet trucks, and/or other materials handlingvehicles. Warehouse management systems can be implemented on a server tomanage the movement of items about the industrial facility. However,disruptions in the operation of such industrial vehicles can impact theability of a warehouse management system to obtain peak operatingefficiency. Moreover, conventional warehouse management systems do notprovide tools for showing information that can be effectively utilizedto manage access to, and operation of, the available industrial vehicleswithin the facility in an efficient and integrated manner.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a system can include a management server, a pluralityof industrial vehicles, and a mobile client device. The managementserver can include one or more server processors. Each of the industrialvehicles can include one or more vehicular processors, and can becommunicatively coupled to the management server. The mobile clientdevice can include a display, a wireless communication circuit, and oneor more client processors. The mobile client device can becommunicatively coupled to the management server. The one or morevehicular processors of each of the industrial vehicles execute vehiclefunctions to: (i) determine a localized position with respect to aninventory transit surface of an industrial facility; (ii) detect anoperational characteristic; (iii) transmit vehicular data indicative ofthe localized position and the operational characteristic to themanagement server; and (iv) navigate along the inventory transit surfaceof the industrial facility to change respective positions of theindustrial vehicles. The one or more server processors of the managementserver can execute server functions to: (i) determine based upon thevehicular data that an impact has occurred involving one of theindustrial vehicles; and (ii) derive an impact descriptor indicative ofthe impact from the vehicular data. The wireless communication circuitof the mobile client device can receive the impact descriptor. The oneor more client processors of the mobile client device can execute clientfunctions to: (i) display a topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device; (ii) display a vehicular objectcontemporaneously with the topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device; and (iii) display an impact pathobject contemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device. Thetopographical warehouse object can include a geometric representationindicative of the inventory transit surface of the industrial facility.The vehicular object can be positioned with respect to the topographicalwarehouse object to indicate an impact position of the one of theindustrial vehicles corresponding to the localized position of the oneof the industrial vehicles at an occurrence of the impact. The impactpath object can be indicative of movement of the one of the industrialvehicles from a pre-impact position to the impact position, from theimpact position to a post-impact position, or from the pre-impactposition to the post-impact position.

In another embodiment, a mobile client device can include a display, awireless communication circuit, and one or more client processors. Themobile client device can be communicatively coupled to a managementserver. The management server can include one or more server processors.The management server can be communicatively coupled to a plurality ofindustrial vehicles. Each of the industrial vehicles can include one ormore vehicular processors. The one or more vehicular processors of eachof the industrial vehicles can execute vehicle functions to: (i)determine a localized position with respect to an inventory transitsurface of an industrial facility; (ii) detect an operationalcharacteristic; (iii) transmit vehicular data indicative of thelocalized position and the operational characteristic to the managementserver; and (iv) navigate along the inventory transit surface of theindustrial facility to change respective positions of the industrialvehicles. The one or more server processors of the management server canexecute server functions to: (i) determine based upon the vehicular datathat an impact has occurred involving one of the industrial vehicles;and (ii) derive an impact descriptor indicative of the impact from thevehicular data. The wireless communication circuit of the mobile clientdevice can receive the impact descriptor. The one or more clientprocessors of the mobile client device can execute client functions to:(i) display a topographical warehouse object via the display of themobile client device; (ii) display a vehicular object contemporaneouslywith the topographical warehouse object via the display of the mobileclient device; and (iii) display an impact path object contemporaneouslywith and superimposed on the topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device. The topographical warehouse objectcan include a geometric representation indicative of the inventorytransit surface of the industrial facility. The vehicular object can bepositioned with respect to the topographical warehouse object toindicate an impact position of the one of the industrial vehiclescorresponding to the localized position of the one of the industrialvehicles at an occurrence of the impact. The impact path object can beindicative of movement of the one of the industrial vehicles from apre-impact position to the impact position, from the impact position toa post-impact position, or from the pre-impact position to thepost-impact position.

In a further embodiment, a method can be implemented and can includedisposing each of a plurality of industrial vehicles upon an inventorytransit surface of an industrial facility. Each of the plurality ofindustrial vehicles can be in communication with a management server isin communication with a mobile client device. The mobile client devicecan include a display, a wireless communication circuit, and one or moreclient processors. The method can include determining a localizedposition of each of the industrial vehicles with respect to theindustrial facility. An operational characteristic of each of theindustrial vehicles can be detected. The occurrence of an impactinvolving one of the industrial vehicles can be determined based uponthe localized position and the operational characteristic of each of theindustrial vehicles. Each of the industrial vehicles can be navigatedupon the inventory transit surface of the industrial facility to changerespective positions of the industrial vehicles. An impact descriptorindicative of the impact of the one of the industrial vehicles can bereceived automatically with the wireless communication circuit of themobile client device. A topographical warehouse object can be displayedvia the display of the mobile client device. The topographical warehouseobject can include a geometric representation indicative of theinventory transit surface of the industrial facility. A vehicular objectcan be displayed contemporaneously with the topographical warehouseobject via the display of the mobile client device. The vehicular objectcan be positioned with respect to the topographical warehouse object toindicate an impact position of the one of the industrial vehiclescorresponding to the localized position of the one of the industrialvehicles at an occurrence of the impact. An impact path object can bedisplayed contemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device. The impactpath object can be indicative of movement of the one of the industrialvehicles from a pre-impact position to the impact position, from theimpact position to a post-impact position, or from the pre-impactposition to the post-impact position.

These and additional features provided by the embodiments describedherein will be more fully understood in view of the following detaileddescription, in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplaryin nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by theclaims. The following detailed description of the illustrativeembodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, where like structure is indicated with likereference numerals and in which:

FIG. 1 schematically depicts a systems for showing information from amanagement server on a mobile client device according to one or moreembodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 2 schematically depicts an industrial vehicle according to one ormore embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 3 schematically depicts a data flow diagram for systems for showinginformation from a management server on a mobile client device accordingto one or more embodiments shown and described herein; and

FIGS. 4-9 schematically depict mobile client devices according to one ormore embodiments shown and described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 generally depicts one embodiment of a system for showinginformation from a management server on a display of a mobile clientdevice. The system generally comprises a management server, a pluralityof industrial vehicles, and a mobile client device. The embodimentsdescribed herein can evolve such that one or more parameters of theplurality of industrial vehicles experience a variety of states overtime. Each state can indicative of an instance of operation of theplurality of industrial vehicles. Various embodiments of the system andmethods for operating the system will be described in more detailherein.

FIG. 1 schematically depicts a system 10 for showing information from amanagement server 20 on a mobile client device 100. In some embodiments,the system 10 can comprise a management server 20 for accessing andprocessing data indicative of one or more industrial vehicles 30. Themanagement server 20 can comprise or be communicatively coupled to oneor more server processors 22 and server memory 24. The one or moreserver processors 22 and server memory 24 can be communicatively coupledto each other. As used herein, the phrase “communicatively coupled”means that components are capable of exchanging data signals with oneanother such as, for example, electrical signals via conductive medium,electromagnetic signals via air, optical signals via optical waveguides,or the like.

In the embodiments described herein, the one or more server processors22 and server memory 24 may be integral with the management server 20.However, it is noted that each of the one or more server processors 22and server memory 24 may be a discrete components communicativelycoupled with one another without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, the management server 20 can be communicativelycoupled to one or more back-end servers and/or data resource, e.g., oneor more databases, data stores or other sources of information.Accordingly, the management server 20 can be scaled for variously sizedenterprises. For example, a relatively small enterprise can utilize asingle level of servers for a single facility. In another example, aglobal enterprise can be established whereby a global level of serversmanages multiple facilities by communicating with one or more levels ofservers that service each of the facilities. The global level can managedata such that data instances from each facility can be selectivelysegregated and distributed.

For the purpose of defining and describing the present disclosure, it isnoted that the term “processor” generally means a device that executesfunctions according to machine readable instructions or that has beenconfigured to execute functions in a manner analogous to machinereadable instructions such as, for example, an integrated circuit, amicrochip, a computer, a central processing unit, a graphics processingunit, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or any other computation device.Additionally, it is noted that the term “memory” as used hereingenerally means one or more apparatus capable of storing data or machinereadable instructions for later retrieval such as, but not limited to,RAM, ROM, flash memory, hard drives, or combinations thereof.

It is furthermore noted that the machine readable instructions describedherein may comprise logic or algorithms written in any programminglanguage of any generation (e.g., 1GL, 2GL, 3GL, 4GL, or 5GL) such as,e.g., machine language that may be directly executed by the processor,or assembly language, object-oriented programming (OOP), scriptinglanguages, microcode, etc., that may be compiled or assembled intomachine readable instructions and stored on a machine readable medium.Alternatively, the logic or algorithm may be written in a hardwaredescription language (HDL), such as implemented via either an FPGAconfiguration or an ASIC, or their equivalents.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1-3, embodiments of an industrialvehicle 30 are schematically depicted. The industrial vehicle 30 can beany vehicle that is configured to determine and communicate localizationinformation, i.e., information regarding the position of the industrialvehicle 30 with respect to an environment. The industrial vehicle 30 cancomprise a vehicle 32 for lifting and moving a payload such as, forexample, a forklift truck, a reach truck, a turret truck, a walkiestacker truck, a tow tractor, a pallet truck, a high/low, astacker-truck, trailer loader, a sideloader, a fork hoist, or the like.Accordingly, the vehicle 32 can comprise a mast 34 that extends in asubstantially vertical direction and forks 36 operable to travel alongthe mast to raise and lower in a substantially vertical direction. Insome embodiments, the forks 36 can be configured to travel laterally toadjust the position of the forks laterally with respect to the mast 34or one another. Motive force can be applied to actuate the forks via amechanical system, a hydraulic system, an electrical system, a pneumaticsystem or a combination thereof. Alternatively or additionally, thevehicle 32 can comprise components for applying a clamping force to apayload (e.g., barrels, kegs, paper rolls and/or the like).

The vehicle 32 can further comprise one or more wheels 38 for traversingalong a surface to travel along a desired path. Accordingly, the vehicle32 can be directed forwards and backwards by rotation of the one or morewheels 38. Additionally, the vehicle 32 can be caused to changedirection by steering the one or more wheels 38. Optionally, the vehicle32 can comprise operator controls 40 for controlling functions of thevehicle 32 such as, but not limited to, the position of the forks 36,the rate of travel of the forks 36, the speed of the wheels 38, theorientation of the wheels 38, or the like. The operator controls 40 cancomprise controls that are assigned to functions of the vehicle 32 suchas, for example, switches, buttons, levers, handles, pedals,input/output device, or the like.

The industrial vehicle 30 can further comprise one or more vehicularprocessors 42 for executing vehicle functions 28 e.g., of the vehicle 32according to machine readable instructions. The industrial vehicle 30can further comprise vehicular memory 44 communicatively coupled to theone or more vehicular processors 42. As is explained in greater detailherein, the industrial vehicle 30 can comprise additional modulescommunicatively coupled to the one or more vehicular processors 42(generally indicated by arrows). Such modules of the industrial vehicle30 can be communicatively coupled via any wired or wireless bus that cancomprise a controller area network (CAN) bus, ZigBee, Bluetooth, LocalInterconnect Network (LIN), time-triggered data-bus protocol (TTP) orother suitable communication strategy. Accordingly, the one or morevehicular processors 42 of the industrial vehicle 30 can execute machinereadable instructions to cause vehicle functions 28 to be performedautomatically. Thus, each function of the operator controls 40 of thevehicle 32 can be augmented or replaced through operation of the one ormore vehicular processors 42. As a result, in some embodiments, theindustrial vehicle 30 can be configured as an automated guided vehicle(AGV).

The industrial vehicle 30 can further comprise a sensor system 46 forcollecting information associated with the vehicle 32. Specifically, thesensor system 46 can comprise a plurality of sensors each operable tocollect feedback indicative of a state of the industrial vehicle 30,environmental conditions surrounding the industrial vehicle 30, or thelike. Accordingly, the sensor system 46 can comprise any sensor capableof detecting a quantity indicative of a state of the industrial vehicle30 or the environmental conditions surrounding the industrial vehicle 30such as, for example, laser scanners, laser range finders, encoders,pressure transducers, cameras, radio frequency identification (RFID)detectors, optical detectors, cameras, ultrasonic range finders,accelerometers, volt meters, amp meters, resistance detectors, or thelike. The sensors of the sensor system 46 can be positioned at anylocation within or about the industrial vehicle 30. Generally, thepositioning of sensors is dependent upon the quantity being detected bythe sensor, i.e., the sensor can be advantageously positioned such thatthe quantity being detected is likely to be within the detection rangeof the sensor.

In some embodiments, the sensor system 46 can be communicatively coupledto the one or more vehicular processors 42, the vehicular memory 44, orboth. Accordingly, the one or more vehicular processors 42 can receivesensor data from the sensor system 46. The sensor data can be processedby the sensor system 46 prior to transmission to the one or morevehicular processors 42. Alternatively or additionally, the sensor datacan be processed by the one or more vehicular processors 42 after thesensor data is received.

Referring still to FIGS. 1-3, the industrial vehicle 30 can furthercomprise an operator identification system 48 coupled to the industrialvehicle and operable to detect the presence of an operator. The operatoridentification system 48 can be communicatively coupled to the one ormore vehicular processors 42. In some embodiments, the vehicle functions28 can automatically cause the operator identification system 48 todetect the identity of an operator. Specifically, the operatoridentification system 48 can comprise an identification reader fordetecting information stored upon a portable object associated with anoperator. For example, the operator identification system 48 cancomprise a magnetic card reader or a radio frequency identificationreader that detects an encoded identification card carried by theoperator. Alternatively or additionally, the operator identificationsystem 48 can be configured to detect biological information such as,for example, fingerprint scanner, retinal scanner, facial detection orthe like.

Upon the collection of identification data by the operatoridentification system 48, an operator association between the industrialvehicle 30 and the identification data can be created by the vehiclefunctions 28. In some embodiments, the association can be created byincluding the identification data with vehicular data 52 that istransmitted from the industrial vehicle 30 via the communication circuit50. Such an association can be extracted from the vehicular data 52 withidentifying indicia of the industrial vehicle 30 by server functions 26.As is described in greater detail below, the operator identificationsystem 48 can be utilized to facilitate operator authorization, trainingmanagement and/or operator license/certification management.

In one aspect the present disclosure relates to a mobile client device100, as described herein. Referring again to FIG. 1, embodiments of amobile client device 100 are schematically depicted. The mobile clientdevice 100 may be configured as a cellular or mobile telephone, a tabletdevice, or the like with functionality for wireless data communications.Thus, while the mobile client device 100 is depicted herein as a mobiletelephone, it should be understood that the mobile client device 100 canbe any mobile communications device that can exchange data via a mobiletelecommunication service such as, for example, a personal digitalassistant, a smart phone, or a laptop computer with a wirelesscommunication peripheral. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the mobileclient device 100 can be a device that executes a mobile operatingsystem. The mobile operating system can be any operating system designedprimarily for touch screen mobile devices such as, for example, Android,iOS, Blackberry OS, Windows Phone, MP WebOS, Symbian OS, Palm OS, or thelike.

The mobile client device 100 can comprise a display 102 for emittingoptical signals to show images. The display 102 can be communicativelycoupled to the one or more client processors 104, the client memory 106,or both. The display 102 can comprise any medium capable of transmittingan optical output such as, for example, a cathode ray tube, lightemitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, or the like.The display 102 can also be configured as a touch screen that, inaddition to providing optical information, detects the presence andlocation of a tactile input upon a surface of or adjacent to the display102. Accordingly, the display 102 can receive mechanical input directlyupon the optical output provided by the display 102.

The mobile client device 100 can comprise one or more wirelesscommunication circuits 107 for communicating data wirelessly. The one ormore wireless communication circuits 107 can comprise a cellularcommunication circuit 108 for transmitting and receiving information viaa cellular network. The cellular communication circuit 108 can becommunicatively coupled to the one or more client processors 104, theclient memory 106, or both. The cellular communication circuit 108 caninclude the necessary hardware to encode data and decode data forcommunication via a suitable cellular network. Accordingly, the cellularcommunication circuit can comprise cellular modem module and cellulartransceiver module. Suitable cellular networks include, but are notlimited to, technologies such as GPRS, EDGE, LTE, UMTS, CDMA, GSM, orthe like. In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 108can be utilized to communicate data via the Internet or World Wide Web.

The one or more wireless communication circuits 107 of the mobile clientdevice 100 can comprise a network communication circuit 110 fortransmitting and receiving information via a local area network, apersonal area network, or the like. The network communication circuit110 can be communicatively coupled to the one or more client processors104, the client memory 106, or both. The network communication circuit110 can include the necessary hardware to encode data and decode datafor communication via a local area network or a personal area network,which are described in greater detail above. Accordingly, the mobileclient device 100 can utilize the network communication circuit 110 tocommunicate data via the Internet or World Wide Web.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the embodiments described herein include asystem 10 for showing information from the management server 20 on thedisplay 102 of the mobile client device 100. In one aspect, the presentdisclosure relates to a management server 20, as described herein. Themanagement server 20 can be communicatively coupled to a plurality ofindustrial vehicles 30 and the mobile client device 100. Specifically,each of the industrial vehicles 30 can travel upon an inventory transitsurface 62 of an industrial facility 60 such as, for example, awarehouse, a manufacturing facility, or any enclosure that housespayloads. It is noted that the term “inventory transit surface” can beused herein to denote any surface suitable for the operation ofindustrial vehicles 30. The plurality of industrial vehicles 30 can becommunicatively coupled to the communication portal 64 of the industrialfacility 60, which can in turn be communicatively coupled to themanagement server 20.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1-3, the management server 20 canexecute machine readable instructions to perform server functions 26.The server functions 26 can automatically aggregate, process anddistribute data associated with each of the industrial vehicles 30. Thedata associated with each of the industrial vehicles 30 can be processedby the server functions in order to define one or more states of theplurality of industrial vehicles 30 collectively. In some embodiments,the data can be synchronized such that the state is indicative of theplurality of industrial vehicles 30 collectively at an instance of timeor period of time. Accordingly, the management server 20 can facilitatethe automatic functions of the industrial vehicles 30 such as, forexample, navigation, movement and tracking of payloads, or the like. Forexample, the management server 20 can be configured to assist with theautomated navigation of the industrial vehicles 30. In one embodiment,the management server 20 can store in the server memory 24 map data thatis associated with the industrial facility 60. The map data can becompletely or partially shared with the industrial vehicles 30 via thecommunication portal 64.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the embodiments described herein can comprisethe management server 20 communicatively coupled with the wirelesscommunication circuit 107 of the mobile client device 100. For example,in some embodiments the cellular communication circuit 108 of the mobileclient device 100 can be communicatively coupled to the managementserver 20. Specifically, the cellular communication circuit 108 canexchange data with one or more cellular towers. The one or more cellulartowers can be communicatively coupled to a gateway that acts as anintermediary for the data to be transmitted, received, or both via theInternet or World Wide Web. Alternatively or additionally, the networkcommunication circuit 110 of the mobile client device 100 can becommunicatively coupled to the management server 20 via the Internet orWorld Wide Web.

Navigation

Each of the industrial vehicles 30 can automatically perform vehiclefunctions 28 by executing vehicle centric machine readable instructions(i.e., machine readable instructions that are executable at the vehiclelevel) with the one or more vehicular processors 42. Accordingly, theindustrial vehicle 30 can automatically collect data via the sensorsystem 46, the operator identification system 48, or both. Theindustrial vehicle can also automatically exchange data with themanagement server 20. Moreover, the vehicle centric machine readableinstructions can include logic for performing vehicle functions 28 thatinvolve the analysis of data and the manipulation of the industrialvehicle 30. For example, the industrial vehicle 30 can determine alocalized position of the industrial vehicle 30 with respect to theindustrial facility 60. The determination of the localized position ofthe industrial vehicle 30 can be performed by comparing sensor data ordata extracted from the sensor data (e.g., via feature extractionfunctions executed by the one or more vehicular processors 42) to mapdata. The map data can be stored locally in the vehicular memory 44,which can be updated periodically by the management server 20, or mapdata of the management server 20.

In some embodiments, the industrial vehicle 30 can automaticallynavigate along the inventory transit surface 62 to a desired positionfrom the localized position of the industrial vehicle 30. Given thelocalized position and the desired position, a travel path can bedetermined for the industrial vehicle 30. In some embodiments, theindustrial vehicle 30 can determine the travel path from sensor data andmap data. In some embodiments, the management server 20 can collect thelocalized position of each of the industrial vehicles 30 and disseminatesuch information to assist with the determination of the travel path.Specifically, the industrial vehicle can use the disseminated localizedpositions as input to the travel path determination function.Alternatively or additionally, the management server 20 can provide theindustrial vehicle 30 with the travel path based at least in part uponthe collected localized position of each of the industrial vehicles 30.In some embodiments, the collected localized positions can be capturedto represent states of the industrial vehicles 30 as one or more of theindustrial vehicles 30 travels upon the inventory transit surface 62.

Once the travel path is known, the industrial vehicle 30 can travelalong the travel path to navigate the inventory transit surface 62 ofthe industrial facility 60. Specifically, the one or more vehicularprocessors 42 can execute vehicle centric machine readable instructionsto operate the industrial vehicle 30. In one embodiment, the one or morevehicular processors 42 can adjust the steering of the wheels 38 andcontrol the throttle to cause the industrial vehicle 30 to navigate theinventory transit surface 62. It should be appreciated that theindustrial facility 60 is a substantially dynamic environment, i.e., thelocalized position of the industrial vehicles 30, the location ofpayloads, the industrial facility or the like change over time.Accordingly, the determination of localized positions and travel pathsmay need to be repeatedly performed periodically with a time constantsufficient to keep with the pace of changing states of industrialvehicles 30.

Vehicular Data

Referring still to FIGS. 1-3, the industrial vehicle 30 can detectvarious operational characteristics with the sensor system 46. Theoperational characteristics can be collected as input and feedback forthe functions of the industrial vehicle 30 and the management server 20.Below is a description of various vehicle functions 28 and someoperational characteristics with the named function. It is noted thatthe listing is provided for clarity and is not intended to beexhaustive. For localization, the operational characteristics caninclude data indicative of image data of the industrial facility 60,ranges to detected objects, encoder data of the wheels 38, RFID datafrom landmarks, laser encoder data of landmarks, or the like. Fornavigation, the operational characteristics can include data indicativeof velocity of the industrial vehicle 30, encoder data of the wheels 38,battery 37 electrical parameters (e.g., voltage, current, etc.), battery37 removal data, steering position, or the like. For moving payload, theoperational characteristics can include data indicative of the positionor height of the forks 36 relative to the mast 34, electrical parametersof the battery 37, or the like. For life span monitoring or consumablemonitoring, the operational characteristics can include data indicativeof usage parameters of the industrial vehicle 30 or components thereofcollected by the sensor system 46. The usage parameters can comprisetime data, distance data, quantity data (e.g., fluid volumes, etc.), orthe like. Accordingly, exemplary usage parameters can comprise atraction system hour meter, a travel usage hour meter, a hydraulic usagehour meter, a steering usage hour meter, operator usage hour meter, orthe like.

As is noted above, the management server 20 can operate as an aggregatorof vehicular data 52 from each of the industrial vehicles 30. It isnoted that the term “vehicular data” can mean data originating from anindustrial vehicle 30. Accordingly, vehicular data 52 can include anydata generated by the vehicular processor 42, stored in the vehicularmemory 44, detected by the sensor system 46, or detected by the operatoridentification system 48. The vehicular data 52, which can comprise dataindicative of the localized position and one or more operationalcharacteristic, can be transmitted by the communication circuit 50 ofthe industrial vehicle 30 to the management server 20 via thecommunication portal. In some embodiments, the vehicular data 52 can beindexed to allow the vehicular data 52 from each of the industrialvehicles 30 to be synchronized to collectively represent one or morestates of the industrial vehicles 30.

Descriptor Data

In some embodiments, the server functions 26 can access the vehiculardata 52 using the one or more server processors 22, the server memory24, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the management server20 can act as a pass thru entity that extracts the descriptors from thevehicular data 52 and transmits the descriptor data 54. Alternatively oradditionally, the server functions 26 of the management server 20 cantransform the vehicular data 52 into the descriptor data 54. Accordinglyit should be understood that the server functions 26 can translate thevehicular data into a desired form for transmission as the descriptordata 54. Such translation can vary from merely copying data to morecomplex processing requiring particularized algorithms for deriving theappropriate data type or deriving conclusions from the vehicular data52, or the like. Alternatively or additionally, the vehicular data 52can be indexed to allow the descriptor data 54 to be synchronized tocollectively represent one or more states of the industrial vehicles 30.

The descriptor data 54 can include a location descriptor, an operationaldescriptor, an operator descriptor, a map descriptor, a productivitydescriptor or combinations thereof. The location descriptor can beindicative of the localized position of one or more of the industrialvehicles 30. As is noted above, the management server 20 can aggregatevehicular data 52 indicative of the localized position of one or more(preferably two or more) of the industrial vehicles 30. Accordingly, thelocation descriptor can be copied directly from the vehicular data 52 bythe server functions 26, or can be derived by the server functions 26from the vehicular data 52. The vehicular data 52 can also comprise dataindicative of the operational characteristics of one or more (preferablytwo or more) of the industrial vehicles 30, the operator characteristicsassociated with one or more (preferably two or more) of the industrialvehicles 30, the vehicle map data of one or more (preferably two ormore) of the industrial vehicles 30, or combinations thereof. Analogousto the location descriptor, the server functions 26 can copy or derivethe operational descriptor from the operational characteristics of thevehicular data 52, the operator descriptor from the operatorcharacteristics of the vehicular data 52, the map descriptor from thevehicle map data of the vehicular data 52, the productivity descriptorfrom the operational characteristics of the vehicular data 52, orcombinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the management server 20 can maintain operatordescriptors that can be associated with the identification data. Theoperator descriptors can comprise operator certification information,training data, a list of authorized users associated with the industrialvehicle 30, or the like. The operator descriptors may be administered byserver functions 26 of the management server 20, which can build,modify, or maintain the operator descriptors. The server functions 26may build or modify the operator descriptors upon a manually initiatedprocess. Alternatively or additionally, the server functions 26 mayperiodically build or modify the descriptors, such as, based upon thedetection of predetermined events including changes in the status ofoperators or vehicles, based upon predetermined intervals, or based uponother conditions or circumstances.

In some embodiments, an operator can be required to be verified as anauthorized user prior to operating the industrial vehicle 30. Theindustrial vehicle 30 can be prevented from operating unless or untilthe identification data is authenticated as corresponding to anauthorized user based upon descriptor data 54. As still furtherexamples, an operator may be authorized to operate only specific types,classes, etc., of vehicles 32. Specifically, an operator may beauthorized to operate sit-down counter balanced forklift trucks, but notrider reach trucks. Accordingly, that operator may be an authorized useronly in lists associated with sit-down counter balanced forklift trucks.Still further, an operator may be authorized only for specific vehicleswithin a given type or class of vehicle. As an example, an operator mayonly be authorized to operate a specific forklift truck, which isidentified by a specific unique identifier such as a serial number.Accordingly, that operator would only be an authorized user for a listassociated with the corresponding forklift truck having the associatedserial number. Other factors, such as time, day, date, etc., may also beconsidered. For example, the end of a work shift could automaticallytrigger server functions 26 that rebuild the lists of authorized userscorresponding to operators working the new shift. As yet a furtherexample, lists of authorized users may be adjusted based uponobtained/updated certifications, training, or the like.

Alarm Descriptors

In some embodiments, the vehicle functions 28 can automatically comparevehicular data 52 with predetermined values or rules to create an alarm.Accordingly, the alarm can be included with the vehicular data 52 thatis reported to the management server 20. Alternatively or additionally,the server functions 26 can automatically compare vehicular data 52 withpredetermined values or rules to create an alarm descriptor forinclusion in the descriptor data 54. Exemplary alarms or alarmdescriptors can be indicative of inspection notifications, due plannedmaintenance, emergency operations, low battery status, certificationexpiration of operators, impacts, or the like. The alarm descriptors canbe pushed to the mobile client device 100 or pulled from the managementserver 20.

Accordingly, as is explained in greater detail below, alarm descriptorscan be utilized to instantiate notifications upon the display 102 of themobile client device 100. Thus, the client functions 112 canautomatically utilize the display 102 of the mobile client device 100 toshow visual information indicative of the alarms. Further, dependingupon the specific implementation, the mobile client device 100 canreceive input to acknowledge alarms and/or add annotations or othercomments. The input can be transmitted to the management server 20 asclient data 114 for use by the server functions to clear or annotatealarms.

In some embodiments, alarms or alarm descriptors indicative ofcertification expiration of operators can be determined fromidentification data, operator descriptors, or combinations thereof.Specifically, the operator descriptors can comprise informationindicative of operator certificates, training requirements or the like.The server functions 26 can automatically compare the operatordescriptors to rules and requirements. Should the rules be violated, analarm descriptor can be generated by the server functions 26. Forexample, an alarm descriptor can indicate that the certificationassociated with an instance of the identification data has expired or isset to expire at a specified point in the future.

Referring still to FIGS. 1-3, alarms or alarm descriptors indicative ofimpacts can be determined from operational characteristics, localizedposition, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the sensorsystem 46 can automatically collect operational characteristics suitablefor impact detection such as, for example, positive or negativeacceleration of the industrial vehicle 30, force applied to theindustrial vehicle 30, excessive braking, travel of the industrialvehicle 30 that breaks designated traffic rules (e.g., incorrect way onone way aisle), or the like.

In some embodiments, the vehicle functions 28 can automatically comparethe detected operational characteristics with predetermined values forthe operational characteristics (e.g., directional data, magnitudes,rate of change, rolling averages, or the like). When the operationalcharacteristics suitable for impact detection indicate non-compliancewith the predetermined values, the vehicle functions 28 can determinethat an impact has occurred. In some embodiments, the vehicle functions28 can classify the severity of the detected impact based upon themagnitude of the non-compliance with the predetermined values. Thedetection and classification of severity of the impact can be includedin the vehicular data 52 that can be communicated to the managementserver 20. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to implementappropriate post impact actions, such as lockout operations. In furtherembodiments, impact detection can be performed by the server functions26 based upon aggregated vehicular data 52.

Productivity Descriptors

According to the embodiments described herein, the server functions 26of the management server 20 can manipulate the vehicular data 52 togenerate productivity descriptors. The productivity descriptors can beindicative of statistics derived from operational characteristics, whichcan include usage parameters. Specifically, the productivity descriptorscan be utilized to summarize information useful for life span monitoringor consumable monitoring. The productivity descriptors can be utilizedto generate reports related to vehicle or consumable usage rates (changeover time, distance, or the like), which may be utilized forestablishing cost of ownership, utilization statistics, etc. In additionto measuring usage in terms of rate, other measurement metrics relatedto usage can alternatively be used without departing from the scope ofthe embodiments described herein. For example, to measure usage of abearing for a rotating shaft, the number of shaft rotations couldindicate usage. As another example, for a hydraulic pump, the cumulativegallons of fluid pumped may be an indication of usage. However, knowingthe average revolutions per minute for the rotating shaft or the averagegallons per minute pumped by the pump allows the usage of these exampledevices to be monitored in terms of time.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the descriptor data 54 canbe transmitted from the management server 20 and received by thewireless communication circuit 107 of the mobile client device 100. Thedescriptor data 54 can be generated by server functions 26 and includedescriptors indicative of the vehicular data 52 aggregated by themanagement server 20. Accordingly, the descriptor data 54, which caninclude map descriptors indicative of the inventory transit surface 62of the industrial facility 60 and location descriptors indicative of thelocalized position of one or more (preferably two or more) of theindustrial vehicles 30, can be accessed by the client functions 112.

The client functions 112 can comprise showing the topographicalwarehouse object 120 via the display 102 of the mobile client device100. In some embodiments, the client functions 112 can utilize the mapdescriptors to generate a topographical warehouse object 120 that isindicative of the inventory transit surface 62 of the industrialfacility 60. Accordingly, as used herein, the term “topographicwarehouse object” can mean a visual representation of the inventorytransit surface 62 as depicted on the display 102. Alternatively oradditionally, the client functions 112 can utilize client data 114 togenerate the topographical warehouse object 120. Accordingly, it shouldbe understood that the topographical warehouse object 120 can begenerated using only client data 114 (e.g., map data stored in theclient memory 106), only map descriptors, or some combination thereof.Optionally, the management server 20 can be configured to automaticallypush map descriptors to the mobile client device 100 or the mobileclient device 100 can be configured to pull map descriptors from themanagement server 20. This can be especially beneficial in embodimentswhere the inventory transit surface 62 or features of the industrialfacility 60 might change states over time.

The topographical warehouse object 120 can comprise a geometricrepresentation of the inventory transit surface 62. In some embodiments,the geometric representation can be scaled to the inventory transitsurface 62, i.e., one or more dimensions of the geometric representationof the topographical warehouse object 120 can be proportionate to one ormore dimension of the inventory transit surface 62. The topographicalwarehouse object 120 can further comprise structural objects 122indicative of structural components 66 of the industrial facility 60,which can include structures for storing goods, structures that theindustrial vehicles 30 navigate around, or the like. In someembodiments, the structural objects 122 can be scaled according to thestructural components 66 of the industrial facility 60. Accordingly, thetopographical warehouse object 120 can provide a scaled representationof the industrial facility 60 that includes the desired amount of detailof structural components 66.

The client functions 112 can further comprise showing a plurality ofvehicular objects 130 contemporaneously with the topographical warehouseobject 120 via the display 102 of the mobile client device 100. It isnoted that the term “vehicular object” can mean the visualrepresentation of an industrial vehicle 30. Each of the vehicularobjects 130 can be positioned with respect to the topographicalwarehouse object 120 based at least in part upon one or more (preferablytwo or more) location descriptor. In some embodiments, each vehicularobject 130 can be positioned according to an association with one of theindustrial vehicles 30. The positioning of the vehicular objects 130with respect to the topographical warehouse object 120 can represent astate of the industrial vehicles 30. Moreover, the positioning canupdated to represent additional states of the industrial vehicles.Generally, each vehicular object 130 can be associated with anindustrial vehicle 30 and the location descriptors can provide localizedposition data associated with each of the industrial vehicles 30.Accordingly, each localized position can be associated with thevehicular object 130 based upon the association with the industrialvehicle 30. In some embodiments, the association can be provided byinformation transmitted with the vehicular data 52. Alternatively, theassociation can be determined at the management server 20 level.

Referring still to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, location descriptors can be updatedperiodically via push or pull updates to provide changing localizedposition data. Accordingly, the vehicular objects 130 can changeposition with respect to the topographical warehouse object 120 basedupon the updates of the location descriptors. In embodiments withfrequent updates, the vehicular objects 130 can be shown on the display102 as animated objects that travel with respect to the topographicalwarehouse object 120 in a manner that mimics the motion of theindustrial vehicles 30 with respect to the inventory transit surface 62of the industrial facility. Furthermore, in embodiments with low latencybetween the observation of the localized position of the industrialvehicle 30 and the provision of the localized position data to theclient functions 112, movement of the vehicular objects 130 with respectto the topographical warehouse object 120 can be utilized to observe theposition of the industrial vehicles in near real-time. Yet, it is notedthat the use of the mobile client device 100 increases the latencybetween the occurrence of a state of the industrial vehicles 30 withrespect to the inventory transit surface 62 and the representation ofthe state on the display 102. For example, the communication of thestate from the industrial vehicles 30, to the management server 20, andto the mobile client device can result in a relatively large time delaywith respect to real-time.

Encoded Objects

Alternatively or additionally, each of the vehicular objects 130 can beencoded based at least in part upon one or more operational descriptorof the descriptor data 54. Accordingly, the encoding can visuallyexpress information indicative of the operational characteristics of theindustrial vehicle 30 via the display 102 of the mobile client device100. In some embodiments, the vehicular object 130 can comprise anencoded object 132 that is encoded based upon an operational descriptor,which can be copied directly from or derived from one or moreoperational characteristic of the vehicular data 52. Accordingly, theencoded object generally comprises a visual characteristic indicative ofthe operational descriptor. Suitable visual characteristics include, butare not limited to, shapes, color coding, alphanumeric codes, charts,symbols, or the like. Applicants have discovered that the latency causedby the communication of the state is overcome by the representation ofthe state via showing the topographical warehouse object 120, thevehicular objects 130, and the encoded object 132 on the display 102.Specifically, the combination of the topographical warehouse object 120,the vehicular objects 130, and the encoded object 132 can provide areadily interpreted summary of the state in near real-time such thatcorrective action can be taken quickly enough to mitigate the negativeimpact of latency. Accordingly, the industrial vehicle 30 can be morereadily supervised via the display 102 of the mobile client device 100despite latency caused by the communication of the state to the mobileclient device 100.

For example, in some embodiments, the encoded object 132 can be shapedto indicate the direction that the industrial vehicle 30 associated withthe vehicular object is moving. Specifically, the encoded object 132depicted in FIG. 4 is substantially shaped like an arrow that ispointing in a direction with respect to the topographical warehouseobject 120. In embodiments, where the orientation of the topographicalwarehouse object 120 with respect to the inventory transit surface 62 isknown, the direction of the encoded object can be substantially alignedwith the heading of the industrial vehicle 30 with respect to theinventory transit surface. In some embodiments, the heading of theindustrial vehicle 30 can be determined by a vehicle function.Alternatively or additionally, the heading can be derived from thevehicular data 52 by the server functions 26, or from the descriptordata 54 by the client functions 112.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, in some embodiments, theencoded object 132 of the vehicular object can be color coded. Colorcoding can be based at least in part upon one or more operationaldescriptor of the descriptor data 54. As is noted above, the industrialvehicle 30 can comprise one or more system that has a finite life span(e.g., industrial vehicle life span, mileage life span, traction systemlife span, hydraulic system life span, steering system life span, or thelike) or a consumable having a finite amount (e.g., battery level,hydraulic fluid level, operator shift period, or the like). The colorcode can be configured to indicate an absolute level, a percentageconsumed, a percentage remaining, or the like.

For example, the client functions 112 can automatically show aconsumable scale 134, contemporaneously with the encoded object 132, viathe display 102 of the mobile client device 100. The consumable scale134 can comprise a color gradient 135 having a first end 136 and asecond end 138. The color gradient 135 of the consumable scale 134 canvary from the first end 136 to the second end 138 such that the colorgradient 135 corresponds to varying levels of the consumable. In oneembodiment, the first end 136 can correspond to a relatively low amountof battery power and the second end 138 can correspond to a relativelyhigh amount of power. Accordingly, the colors of the color gradient 135can correspond to amounts of power between the relatively low amount ofbattery power of the first end 136 and the relatively high amount ofpower of the second end 138. Thus, the encoded object 132 can be coloredaccording to one of the colors of the color gradient 135 to quantify theamount of battery power of the industrial vehicle 30 associated with theencoded object 132. Alternatively, the encoded object 132 of thevehicular object 130 can be encoded directly (e.g., alphanumeric code,chart, or the like) without the consumable scale 134. The encoded object132 can be shown for one of the vehicular objects 130 on the display102, or may be shown simultaneously for two or more (e.g. for all) ofthe vehicular objects 130 to allow direct comparisons to be made. Insome embodiments an encoded object 132 may be shown for a vehicularobject 130 at the request of the user, e.g. by selecting the vehicularobject 130 of interest; for example, as described further below. In someembodiments the encoded object 132 may give a visual indication of morethan operational descriptor of the descriptor data 54 at the same time.Accordingly, the embodiments described herein can be utilized to show astate of the industrial vehicles 30 that is unavailable by directlyviewing the industrial vehicles 30 or by viewing the industrial vehicles30 in real-time.

Conditional Encoded Object

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1-3 and 6, in some embodiments, theclient functions 112 can automatically show a conditional encoded object140 via the display 102 of the mobile client device 100. The conditionalencoded object 140 can be encoded based at least in part upon one ormore operational descriptor of the descriptor data 54 analogous to theencoding of the encoded object 132. The conditional encoded object 140can be automatically shown on the display 102 according to inputreceived by the mobile client device 100 such as, for example, tactileinput, audible input, or the like. Alternatively or additionally, theconditional encoded object 140 can be shown periodically or upon thereceipt of a push notification by the mobile client device 100. In someembodiments, the conditional encoded object 140 can automatically bedeactivated from presentation upon the display 102. Accordingly,conditional encoded object 140 can be selectively added or removed fromthe display 102.

Like the encoded object 132, the conditional encoded object 140 canvisually express information indicative of the operationalcharacteristics of the industrial vehicle 30 via the display 102 of themobile client device 100. In some embodiments, the conditional encodedobject 140 can comprise a lift height object 142 that is encoded basedupon an operational descriptor indicative of the position of the forks36 of the industrial vehicle 30 with respect to the mast 34, which canbe copied directly from or derived from one or more operationalcharacteristic of the vehicular data 52.

Congestion

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1, 3 and 7, encoded objects 230 can beassociated directly with the topographical warehouse object 120. As isnoted above, the encoded objects 230 can be encoded based upon anoperational descriptor, which can be copied directly from or derivedfrom one or more operational characteristic of the vehicular data 52.Accordingly, the encoded object 230 can comprises a visualcharacteristic indicative of the operational descriptor.

In some embodiments, the encoded objects 230 can be derived fromaggregated data, i.e., data from a plurality of industrial vehicles 30.In some embodiments, operational characteristics can be aggregated bythe server functions 26 from a plurality of industrial vehicles 30 intothe aggregated data. The server functions 26 can derive an operationaldescriptor from the aggregated data. In embodiments, where the localizedpositions and operational characteristics form a portion of theaggregated data, the operational descriptor, and thus the encoded object230, can be indicative of a region of the inventory transit surface 62.For example, the localized positions can be utilized to associate theoperational characteristics with the region of the inventory transitsurface 62 that coincides with the localized positions. Accordingly, theclient functions 112 can place the encoded object 230 such that theencoded object 230 occupies an area of the topographical warehouseobject 120 that corresponds to the region of the inventory transitsurface 62 and is indicative of the operational descriptor.

For example, the client functions 112 can automatically show acongestion scale 232, contemporaneously with the encoded objects 230,via the display 102 of the mobile client device 100. The congestionscale 232 can comprise a color gradient 234 having a first end 236 and asecond end 238. The color gradient 234 of the congestion scale 232 canvary from the first end 236 to the second end 238 such that the colorgradient 234 corresponds to varying levels of the congestion, i.e., slowmoving traffic. In one embodiment, the first end 236 can correspond to arelatively low amount of traffic and the second end 238 can correspondto a relatively high amount of traffic. Accordingly, the colors of thecolor gradient 234 can correspond to amounts of traffic between therelatively low amount of traffic of the first end 236 and the relativelyhigh amount of traffic of the second end 238.

Accordingly, each encoded object 230 can be colored according to one ofthe colors of the color gradient 234 to quantify the amount of trafficof the inventory transit surface 62 associated with the topographicalwarehouse object 120. Specifically, each encoded object 230 can occupyan area of the topographical warehouse object 120 that corresponds to aregion of the inventory transit surface 62. The area of the encodedobject 230 can be colored to match the color of the color gradient 234that corresponds to the amount of traffic that is determined to bepresent in the region of the inventory transit surface 62. In someembodiments, the amount of traffic can be determined by the serverfunctions 26 and provided as descriptor data 54. Specifically, theserver functions 26 can extract localized positions, velocities,headings, or the like, from the vehicular data 52 and quantify thetraffic corresponding to the regions of the inventory transit surface62. In further embodiments, the encoded objects 230 can be encodeddirectly (e.g., alphanumeric code, chart, or the like) to indicatetraffic information without the congestion scale 232.

Search/Filter

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1, 3 and 8, the embodiments describedherein can be configured to receive selection input indicative of datareduction parameter. The data reduction parameter can be configured tosearch or filter the descriptor data 54. Accordingly, the data reductionparameter can be any instance of the descriptor data 54. In someembodiments, the client functions 112 can automatically show a parameterinput interface 150 on the display 102 of the mobile client device 100.In embodiments where the display 102 is configured as a touch screen,the parameter input interface 150 can show controls and the display 102can receive input from the control. For example, the parameter inputinterface 150 can comprise a search control 152 that receives inputindicative of a data reduction parameter such as, for example, aselected operator or a selected industrial vehicle. The client functions112, upon receipt of the data reduction parameter, can search thedescriptor data 54 and determine a selected instance of the descriptordata 54. When the selected instance is found, the client functions 112can automatically show a summary of the selected instance upon thedisplay 102. In some embodiments, the client functions 112 canautomatically show encoded objects 132, 230 related to the selectedinstance of the descriptor data 54.

In some embodiments, the parameter input interface 150 can comprise afilter control 154 that classifies descriptor data 54 into fields ofdata reduction parameters. The filter control 154 can be configured toshow the fields of data reduction parameters upon the display 102. Theclient functions 112, upon the selection of one or more of the datareduction parameters, can determine a selected instance of thedescriptor data 54. In some embodiments, the client functions 112 canautomatically show encoded objects 132, 230 related to the selectedinstance of the descriptor data 54. For example, the data reductionparameters can include descriptor data 54 indicative of industrialvehicle parameters such as, for example, vehicle type, vehicle serialnumber, vehicle classification, or the like. After selection of the oneor more industrial vehicle parameter, one or more selected industrialvehicles of the industrial vehicles 30 can be determined based upon theselection of the one or more industrial vehicle parameter. Accordingly,the client functions 112 can automatically show encoded objects 132, 230related to the one or more selected industrial vehicles of theindustrial vehicles 30.

In a further example, the data reduction parameters can include one ormore operator descriptor of the descriptor data 54 indicative of theoperator association of one or more of the industrial vehicles 30. Afterselection of the operator descriptor, one or more selected industrialvehicles of the industrial vehicles 30 can be determined based upon theoperator associations of the one or more operator descriptors.Accordingly, the client functions 112 can automatically show encodedobjects 132, 230 related to the one or more selected industrial vehiclesof the industrial vehicles 30.

Mobile Client Device Alarms

Referring collectively to FIGS. 1, 3 and 9, the mobile client device 100can receive descriptor data 54 comprising an alarm descriptor indicativeof a detected alarm. As is noted above, vehicle functions 28 or serverfunctions 26 can automatically generate alarm descriptors. In someembodiments, the management server 20 can automatically push descriptordata 54 to the mobile client device 100 upon the detection of the alarm.Alternatively or additionally, the mobile client device 100 can pulldescriptor data 54 from the management server 20 to periodically searchfor alarms or to search for alarms in response to user input.Accordingly, upon notification of the alarm, the client functions 112can automatically show a conditional encoded object 340.

As is noted above, the alarm descriptor can be indicative of an impact.In some embodiments, upon receipt of the alarm descriptor indicative ofthe impact, the client functions 112 can automatically show a vehicularobject 330 upon the topographical warehouse object 120 via the display102. The vehicular object 330 can be located with respect to thetopographical warehouse object 120 to indicate the localized position ofthe industrial vehicle 30 when the impact was detected. In someembodiments, the encoded object 332 can be configured to provide visualcharacteristics indicative of an impact.

Impact Playback

In further embodiments, the mobile client device 100 can provideplayback of the impact. For example, in addition to determining that animpact has occurred, the management server 20 can determine an impacttime indicative of a point in time corresponding to the occurrence ofthe impact of the industrial vehicle 30. Alternatively or additionally,the management server 20 can determine an impact position indicative ofthe localized position of the industrial vehicle 30 at an occurrence ofthe impact. Based upon the impact time, impact position or both, themanagement server 20 can evaluate a pre-impact time period and a postimpact time period to determine operational characteristics indicativeof the impact such as, for example, travel path, localization data,velocity, braking, forces, acceleration, time data, or the like.Accordingly, the descriptor data 54 can further comprise impactdescriptors indicative of operational characteristics indicative of theimpact.

In some embodiments, the client functions 112 of the mobile clientdevice 100 can automatically transform the descriptor data 54 into animpact path object 334. The impact path object 334 can be indicative ofthe movement of the industrial vehicle 30 from a pre-impact position 336to the position of the industrial vehicle at the impact time, which cancorrespond to the location of the vehicular object 330 with respect tothe topographical warehouse object 120. Alternatively or additionally,the impact path object 334 can be indicative of the movement of theindustrial vehicle 30 from the position of the industrial vehicle at theimpact time to a post-impact position 338. Accordingly, in someembodiments, the impact path object 334 can depict the travel of thevehicular object 330 from the pre-impact position 336 through thepost-impact position 338. It is noted that the impact path object 334can be shown statically (e.g., a curve corresponding to movement of theindustrial vehicle 30), dynamically (e.g., animation showing movement ofthe vehicular object 330, which is generally indicated by dashedcircles), or both. Furthermore, as is noted above, the client functions112 can automatically show the conditional encoded object 340 to provideinformation indicative of the alarm descriptor or controls for themanipulation of the playback of the animation showing movement of thevehicular object 330, i.e., play, stop, pause, or the like. Applicantshave discovered that showing the impact path object 334 cansubstantially increase the quality of an operator's response to theimpact. For example, at the time of the impact it can be difficult todiagnose the severity of the impact or to identify the cause of theimpact. That is, physical evidence of the impact can be difficult tocorrelate to the severity of the impact (i.e., determination if theindustrial vehicle 30 can be returned to service) or to identify thecause of the impact. The impact path object 334 provides informationrelated to the states leading up to the impact, following the impact, orboth leading up to and following the impact. Accordingly, the impactpath object can be used to evaluate and simulate the impact, repeatedlyif necessary, to facilitate the diagnosis of the severity of the impactand the cause of the impact. Thus, corrective action can be taken torepair the industrial vehicle 30, reactivate the industrial vehicle 30,train operators of the industrial vehicle 30, reconfigure the facilityto mitigate future similar impacts, or the like.

Additionally, the conditional encoded object 340 can comprise anannotation control 342 that can be utilized to receive input from a userof the mobile client device 100. The input (e.g., audible or tactile)received by the annotation control 342 can be transmitted as a portionof the client data 114 to the management server 20. Accordingly, theserver functions 26 can automatically associate the client data 114 withthe alarm descriptor. In some embodiments, the user of the mobile clientdevice 100 can use the annotation control 342 to provide queries to themanagement server 20, the industrial vehicle 30 or both. In someembodiments, the vehicular data 52 or the descriptor data 54 can bequeried for additional information. Alternatively or additionally, theuser of the mobile client device 100 can communicate via the managementserver 20 and the industrial vehicle to the operator of the industrialvehicle 30. Accordingly, the cause of the accident can be investigatedvia communication between the user and the operator.

Additionally, the conditional encoded object 340 can comprise anacknowledgement control 344 that can be utilized to receive input from auser of the mobile client device 100 indicative of a desire toacknowledge the impact. As is noted above, post impact actions canautomatically occur to ameliorate the impact such as, for example,disabling the industrial vehicle involved in the impact. In someembodiments, the input (e.g., audible or tactile) received by theacknowledgement control 344 can be transmitted as a portion of theclient data 114 to the management server 20. Accordingly, the serverfunctions 26 can automatically cancel some or all of the post impactactions based upon the client data 114.

It is noted that the term “substantially” may be utilized herein torepresent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed toany quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or otherrepresentation. These terms are also utilized herein to represent thedegree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a statedreference without resulting in a change in the basic function of thesubject matter at issue.

It is furthermore noted that the claims included herewith may make useof the term “one or more” in addition to the use of an indefinitearticles “a” or “an” and definite article “the.” Usage of the term “oneor more” should not be interpreted as altering the meaning of sucharticles or as changing transitional phrases preceding such articlesfrom open-ended claim language to closed claim language. For example,should a claim include the term “one or more” and a limitation thatrecites “comprises an object,” the limitation should not be interpretedas “comprises a single object,” or “consists of an object.” Instead,such usage should be interpreted as inclusive or open-ended and notexclusive of additional, unrecited elements or method steps.

While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein,it should be understood that various other changes and modifications maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimedsubject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimedsubject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not beutilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appendedclaims cover all such changes and modifications that are within thescope of the claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising a management server, aplurality of industrial vehicles, and a mobile client device, wherein:the management server comprises one or more server processors; each ofthe industrial vehicles comprises one or more vehicular processors, andis communicatively coupled to the management server; the mobile clientdevice comprises a display, a wireless communication circuit, and one ormore client processors, and is communicatively coupled to the managementserver; the one or more vehicular processors of each of the industrialvehicles execute vehicle functions to: (i) determine a localizedposition with respect to an inventory transit surface of an industrialfacility; (ii) detect an operational characteristic; (iii) transmitvehicular data indicative of the localized position and the operationalcharacteristic to the management server; and (iv) navigate along theinventory transit surface of the industrial facility to changerespective positions of the industrial vehicles; the one or more serverprocessors of the management server execute server functions to: (i)determine based upon the vehicular data that an impact has occurredinvolving one of the industrial vehicles; and (ii) derive an impactdescriptor indicative of the impact from the vehicular data; thewireless communication circuit of the mobile client device receives theimpact descriptor; and the one or more client processors of the mobileclient device execute client functions to: (i) display a topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device, whereinthe topographical warehouse object comprises a geometric representationindicative of the inventory transit surface of the industrial facility;(ii) display a vehicular object contemporaneously with the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device, whereinthe vehicular object is positioned with respect to the topographicalwarehouse object to indicate an impact position of the one of theindustrial vehicles corresponding to the localized position of the oneof the industrial vehicles at an occurrence of the impact; and (iii)display an impact path object contemporaneously with and superimposed onthe topographical warehouse object via the display of the mobile clientdevice, wherein the impact path object is indicative of movement of theone of the industrial vehicles from a pre-impact position to the impactposition, from the impact position to a post-impact position, or fromthe pre-impact position to the post-impact position.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: the one or more server processors of the managementserver execute server functions to: (i) generate an alarm descriptorindicative of an alarm indicative of the impact; the one or more clientprocessors of the mobile client device further execute client functions:(i) receive a notification of the alarm; and (ii) display a conditionalencoded object configured to provide impact informationcontemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographical warehouseobject via the display of the mobile client device upon receipt of thenotification of the alarm.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein theconditional encoded object comprises an annotation control configured tobe utilized to receive user input comprising one or more queries for themanagement server for impact information from a user of the mobileclient device.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein: the impact path objectis presented as one or statically or as an animation; the one or moreclient processors execute the client functions to provide one or morecontrols for manipulation of the animation; and the conditional encodedobject comprises the one or more controls.
 5. The system of claim 2,wherein: the one or more vehicular processors of the one of theindustrial vehicles execute vehicle functions to disable the one of theindustrial vehicles involved in the impact after the impact hasoccurred; and the one or more client processors of the mobile clientdevice execute client functions to: (i) present the conditional encodedobject comprising an acknowledgement control via the display of themobile client device; and (ii) receive input indicative of a desire toacknowledge the impact with the acknowledgement control; and the one ormore server processors of the management server execute server functionsto reactivate the one of the industrial vehicles involved in the impactafter the input is received with the acknowledgement control.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the display of the topographical warehouseobject, the vehicular object, and the impact path object is near enoughto real-time to permit corrective action to be taken quickly enough tomitigate the negative impact of latency caused by a communication ofchanging positions of the plurality of industrial vehicles to the mobileclient device.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more clientprocessors of the mobile client device further execute client functionsto: transform the impact descriptor into the impact path object, whereinthe impact path object is indicative of movement of the one of theindustrial vehicles in a manner that is representative of the motion ofthe one of the industrial vehicles with respect to the topographicalwarehouse object.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or moreclient processors of the mobile client device further execute clientfunctions to: display an encoded object contemporaneously with thetopographical warehouse object via the display of the mobile clientdevice, wherein the encoded object occupies an area of the topographicalwarehouse object that corresponds to a region of the inventory transitsurface, and wherein the encoded object is indicative of one or morelevels of congestion of the region of the inventory transit surface. 9.A mobile client device comprising a display, a wireless communicationcircuit, and one or more client processors, wherein: the mobile clientdevice is communicatively coupled to a management server; the managementserver comprises one or more server processors; the management server iscommunicatively coupled to a plurality of industrial vehicles; each ofthe industrial vehicles comprises one or more vehicular processors; theone or more vehicular processors of each of the industrial vehiclesexecute vehicle functions to: (i) determine a localized position withrespect to an inventory transit surface of an industrial facility; (ii)detect an operational characteristic; (iii) transmit vehicular dataindicative of the localized position and the operational characteristicto the management server; and (iv) navigate along the inventory transitsurface of the industrial facility to change respective positions of theindustrial vehicles; the one or more server processors of the managementserver execute server functions to: (i) determine based upon thevehicular data that an impact has occurred involving one of theindustrial vehicles; and (ii) derive an impact descriptor indicative ofthe impact from the vehicular data; the wireless communication circuitof the mobile client device receives the impact descriptor; and the oneor more client processors of the mobile client device execute clientfunctions to: (i) display a topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device, wherein the topographical warehouseobject comprises a geometric representation indicative of the inventorytransit surface of the industrial facility; (ii) display a vehicularobject contemporaneously with the topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device, wherein the vehicular object ispositioned with respect to the topographical warehouse object toindicate an impact position of the one of the industrial vehiclescorresponding to the localized position of the one of the industrialvehicles at an occurrence of the impact; and (iii) display an impactpath object contemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device, whereinthe impact path object is indicative of movement of the one of theindustrial vehicles from a pre-impact position to the impact position,from the impact position to a post-impact position, or from thepre-impact position to the post-impact position.
 10. The mobile clientdevice of claim 9, wherein: the one or more server processors of themanagement server execute server functions to: (i) generate an alarmdescriptor indicative of an alarm indicative of the impact; the one ormore client processors of the mobile client device further executeclient functions: (i) receive a notification of the alarm; and (ii)display a conditional encoded object configured to provide impactinformation contemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device uponreceipt of the notification of the alarm.
 11. The mobile client deviceof claim 10, wherein the conditional encoded object comprises anannotation control configured to be utilized to receive user inputcomprising one or more queries for the management server for impactinformation from a user of the mobile client device.
 12. The mobileclient device of claim 10, wherein: the impact path object is presentedas one or statically or as an animation; the one or more clientprocessors execute the client functions to provide one or more controlsfor manipulation of the animation; and the conditional encoded objectcomprises the one or more controls.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein:the one or more vehicular processors of the one of the industrialvehicles execute vehicle functions to disable the one of the industrialvehicles involved in the impact after the impact has occurred; and theone or more client processors of the mobile client device execute clientfunctions to: (i) present the conditional encoded object comprising anacknowledgement control via the display of the mobile client device; and(ii) receive input indicative of a desire to acknowledge the impact withthe acknowledgement control; and the one or more server processors ofthe management server execute server functions to reactivate the one ofthe industrial vehicles involved in the impact after the input isreceived with the acknowledgement control.
 14. The mobile client deviceof claim 9, wherein the display of the topographical warehouse object,the vehicular object, and the impact path object is near enough toreal-time to permit corrective action to be taken quickly enough tomitigate the negative impact of latency caused by a communication ofchanging positions of the plurality of industrial vehicles to the mobileclient device.
 15. The mobile client device of claim 9, wherein the oneor more client processors of the mobile client device further executeclient functions to: transform the impact descriptor into the impactpath object, wherein the impact path object is indicative of movement ofthe one of the industrial vehicles in a manner that is representative ofthe motion of the one of the industrial vehicles with respect to thetopographical warehouse object.
 16. The mobile client device of claim 9,wherein the one or more client processors of the mobile client devicefurther execute client functions to: display an encoded objectcontemporaneously with the topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device, wherein the encoded object occupiesan area of the topographical warehouse object that corresponds to aregion of the inventory transit surface, and wherein the encoded objectis indicative of one or more levels of congestion of the region of theinventory transit surface.
 17. A method comprising: disposing each of aplurality of industrial vehicles upon an inventory transit surface of anindustrial facility, wherein each of the plurality of industrialvehicles are in communication with a management server and themanagement server is in communication with a mobile client device, andwherein the mobile client device comprises a display, a wirelesscommunication circuit, and one or more client processors; determining alocalized position of each of the industrial vehicles with respect tothe industrial facility; detecting an operational characteristic of eachof the industrial vehicles; determining based upon the localizedposition and the operational characteristic of each of the industrialvehicles that an impact has occurred involving one of the industrialvehicles; navigating each of the industrial vehicles upon the inventorytransit surface of the industrial facility to change respectivepositions of the industrial vehicles; receiving, automatically with thewireless communication circuit of the mobile client device, an impactdescriptor indicative of the impact of the one of the industrialvehicles; displaying a topographical warehouse object via the display ofthe mobile client device, wherein the topographical warehouse objectcomprises a geometric representation indicative of the inventory transitsurface of the industrial facility; displaying a vehicular objectcontemporaneously with the topographical warehouse object via thedisplay of the mobile client device, wherein the vehicular object ispositioned with respect to the topographical warehouse object toindicate an impact position of the one of the industrial vehiclescorresponding to the localized position of the one of the industrialvehicles at an occurrence of the impact; and displaying an impact pathobject contemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device, whereinthe impact path object is indicative of movement of the one of theindustrial vehicles from a pre-impact position to the impact position,from the impact position to a post-impact position, or from thepre-impact position to the post-impact position.
 18. The method of claim17, further comprising: generating an alarm descriptor indicative of analarm indicative of the impact; receiving a notification of the alarm;and displaying a conditional encoded object configured to provide impactinformation contemporaneously with and superimposed on the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device uponreceipt of the notification of the alarm.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the conditional encoded object comprises an annotation controlconfigured to be utilized to receive user input comprising one or morequeries for the management server for impact information from a user ofthe mobile client device.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein: theimpact path object is presented as one or statically or as an animation;and displaying the conditional encoded object comprising display one ormore controls for manipulation of the animation.
 21. The method of claim18, further comprising: disabling the one of the industrial vehiclesinvolved in the impact after determining the impact has occurred;presenting, automatically with the one or more client processors of themobile client device, the conditional encoded object comprising anacknowledgement control via the display of the mobile client device;receiving input indicative of a desire to acknowledge the impact withthe acknowledgement control; and reactivating the one of the industrialvehicles involved in the impact after the input is received with theacknowledgement control.
 22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:transforming the impact descriptor into the impact path object, whereinthe impact path object is indicative of movement of the one of theindustrial vehicles in a manner that is representative of the motion ofthe one of the industrial vehicles with respect to the topographicalwarehouse object.
 23. The method of claim 17, further comprising:displaying an encoded object contemporaneously with the topographicalwarehouse object via the display of the mobile client device, whereinthe encoded object occupies an area of the topographical warehouseobject that corresponds to a region of the inventory transit surface,and wherein the encoded object is indicative of one or more levels ofcongestion of the region of the inventory transit surface.